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Wall/Plot Coordinates Cremated, ashes scattered over Pacific Ocean.
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John Jackson
John Wallace "Jack" Jackson, also known as "Grumpy" died of cancer at his home in Apple Valley on Dec. 13, 2000. He was 77. Jack was born in Grand Forks, N.D., in 1923. After graduating from Bemidji High School, he attended the University of Southern California for a year before being accepted to West Point Military Academy. He graduated from West Point in 1946 and joined the Army Air Corps, later to become the U.S. Air Force, where he became a pilot, serving in Korea and Vietnam. He retired as a lieutenant colonel after 30 years of service and eventually moved to Apple Valley. While in Apple Valley, he was a member of the Apple Valley Country Club and did volunteer work with the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program and Hospice of the Inland Counties. He is survived by four wonderful children: son Terry of Monterey; daughters Nancy Kowalski of Beavercreek, Ohio, Pam Fitzhenry of Los Gatos and Deborrah Brewer of Eugene, Ore.; brothers Robert of Anaheim Hills, Don of Griffin, Ga., and Bill of Newport Beach; sisters Betty of La Mirada and Joan of Downey; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandson. Jack was a man of "gusto" who lived life to the fullest. He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends and playing golf and traveling, especially on cruises with Shirley. He will long be remembered for his kindness and his zany sense of humor. A memorial service will be celebrated at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Church of the Valley, Highway 18 and Standing Rock Road in Apple Valley. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the American Cancer Society or to VNA Hospice of the Inland Counties, 12421 Hesperia Road, Ste. 11, Victorville, CA 92392. Victor Valley Mortuary in Victorville is handling arrangements.
Description The military stalemate continued throughout the winter of 1952-1953. Allied Sabrejet pilots, meantime, persisted in destroying MiGs at a decidedly favorable ratio. In December the Communists developed an ambush tactic against F-86 pilots patroling along the Yalu River: MiG pilots would catch the UN aircraft as they ran short of fuel and headed south to return to base. During these engagements, some of the F-84 pilots exhausted their fuel and had IO bail out over Cho-do Island, 60 miles southwest of Pyongyang.
United Nations forces held the island and maintained an air rescue detachment there for such emergencies. To avoid combat while low on fuel, Sabre pilots began to fly home over the Yellow Sea. MiG pilots at this time generally sought the advantages of altitude, speed, position, and numbers before engaging in aerial combat. The UN pilots, on the other hand, relied on their skills to achieve aerial victories, even though they were outnumbered and flying aircraft that did not quite match the flight capabilities of the MiG-15s.
One memorable battle occurred on February l8, 1953, near the Sui-ho Reservoir on the Yalu River, 110 miles north of Pyongyang; 4 F-86Fs attacked 48 MiGs, shot down 2, and caused 2 others to crash while taking evasive action. All 4 U.S. aircraft returned safely to their base. While the Fifth Air Force maintained air superiority over North Korea during daylight hours, the Far East Air Forces Bomber Command on nighttime missions ran afoul of increasingly effective Communist interceptors. The aging B- 29s relied on darkness and electronic jamming for protection from both interceptors and antiaircraft gunfire, but the Communists used spotter aircraft and searchlights to reveal bombers to enemy gun crews and fighter-interceptor pilots.
As B-29 losses mounted in late 1952, the Bomber Command compressed bomber formations to shorten the time over targets and increase the effectiveness of electronic countermeasures. The Fifth Air Force joined the Navy and Marines to provide fighter escorts to intercept enemy aircraft before they could attack the B-29s. Bomber Command also restricted.missions along the Yalu to cloudy, dark nights because on clear nights contrails gave away the bombers' positions. FEAF lost no more B-29s after January 1953, although it continued its missions against industrial targets. On March 5 the B-29s penetrated deep into enemy territory to bomb a target at Chongjin in northeastern Korea, only 63 miles from the Soviet border. While Bomber Command struck industrial targets throughout North Korea during the winter of 1952-1953, the Fifth Air Force cooperated with the U.S. Navy's airmen in attacks on supplies, equipment, and troops near the from fines.
In December 1952 the Eighth Army moved its bombline from 10,000 to 3,000 meters from the front lines, enabling Fifth Air Force and naval fighter-bombers to target areas closer to American positions. Beyond the front lines, the Fifth Air Force focused on destroying railroads and bridges, allowing B-26s to bomb stalled vehicles. In January 1953 the Fifth Air Force attempted to cut the 5 railroad bridges over the Chongchon Estoary near Sinanju, 40 miles north of Pyongyang. Expecting trains to back up in marshaling yards at Sinanju, Bomber Command sent B-29s at night to bomb them, but these operations hindered enemy transportation only briefly.
As the ground thawed in the spring, however, the Communist forces had greater difficulty moving supplies and reinforcements in the face of the Fifth Air Force's relentless attacks on transportation. At the end of March 1953, the Chinese Communist government indicated its willingness to exchange injured and ill prisoners of war and discuss terms for a cease-fire in Korea. On April 20 Communist and United Nations officials began an exchange of POWs, and 6 days later, resumed the sessions at Panmunjom.
